John Travolta Doesn't Believe in anti-depression drugs....

[beattyfamily]

I read this thread last night knowing nothing about his son being autistic. I hadn't seen a picture of him in years and had no idea he was as old as he is, he's a teenager now. So I researched it a little and came across some pictures of him. He really is beautiful and so is his sister. There was something about how he focused on the camera though that I found particularly haunting....couldn't stop thinking about this child and his parents.

I've always liked John Travolta but I do feel a little different now reading his child is autistic and he refuses to acknowledge it. That bothers me, I will say. I believe celebrities are entitled to their privacy, but to me refusing to acknowledge it makes it stigmatized. How could he do that to his son? I'm not feeling the love for him anymore if the rumors are true.

That's exactly how I feel. I've always loved John Travolta and thought he was down to earth and even though I knew he was a Scientologist, he didn't seem to flaunt it as Tom Cruise was doing. It didn't bother me. Even this story about being anti-drugs didn't really bother me but the more I read in this thread, the more upset I got. I'm so saddened by this news. I hope it's not true but it's looking like it just might be.

 

[Tiggeroo]

I'm with most everybody on this. I don't believe Scientology is a religion, more like a belief system, that's not the word I'm looking for. Alot of relgions have problems with modern psychiatry and some of that is also a belief system. However, autism is a medical condition with medical treatments available. Use alternate treatments along with accepted medical treatments or try the alternates and the medical ones alternately and see which works best. But don't deny your children the medical care they need.

 

[disneyfan67]

I have read up on his son and Roger Friedman, a Fox News.com entertainment reporter, had a column online about this very subject. The Travolta's never mention their son anymore and don't allow photograph's, but have no problem doing photo shoots with their daughter. It's another case of strange behavior from an already increasingly strange person, who follows a even stranger cult like religion.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,283752,00.html

Odds 'n' Ends

John Travolta and Kelly Preston's son, Jett, is missing again.

In Sunday's Parade magazine cover story, there's a picture of the couple with daughter Ella, as usual. But Jett, who is older, is ignored.

What a shame this poor kid, who is now 15, has become invisible. Whatever his difficulties may be, it seems more than just odd that he's constantly erased from the PR portrait of the "happy family." ...

As a father of a autistic child, I'm offended by his behavior, but I quit watching or listening to anything he does.

 

[Ride Junkie]

Kind of off-topic, but I heard something last night while listening to XM radio (I think it was on Fox news), and they were talking about how Scientology is one of those religions that is against gays and is in favor of transforming them into straight people. I have no idea if this is true. They also mentioned that it is funny that Tom Cruise and John Travolta are both Scientologists and are both rumored to be gay. Hmmm...

(Let me add that I don't care if a person is gay or straight. Equal rights to all humans!)

 

[noahynav]

That's not surprising either. I haven't read this whole thread but I did read a synopsis of an interview that the "kids stay up later than they probably should". His wife goes to bed at 3 am. He goes to bed at 7 am and they all sleep during the day.

I am not sure what you are implying with this statement? If that is true it does not in ANY way make them bad parents.

I guess I am a little sensitive to criticism on this topic because my family also keeps a similar schedule. My husband works third shift and it is easier on all of us when we are on his schedule. We have more family time together. We are well rested and happy. My children are very well adapted to it as well. I have always been a night owl, and never a morning person. I am at my happiest and most productive at nighttime. As long as children are being properly cared for and not abused in any way, it is not wrong for a family to keep any schedule they want. And why is waking at 6AM and going to bed by 10PM the right thing to do? What may be right for one family is not neccessarily so for another.

 

[DawnCt1]

I am not sure what you are implying with this statement? If that is true it does not in ANY way make them bad parents.

.

I think a lot of what he does is to maintain privacy. One can be out and about from 1 am to 7 am and be left pretty much alone. If his family wants to have a normal relationship with him, I would imagine that they would have to keep a similar schedule. If their children go to school, I would think that type of schedule would make it difficult. I also don't have a problem with the Travolta's acknowledging whether they have an autistic child or not. Why should someone, just because they are a celebrity, have to reveal sensitive or private information. The fact that he is an actor, doesn't require him to also be a spokesman for any particular cause, even if he is personally affected by it.

 

[declansdad]

I think a lot of what he does is to maintain privacy. One can be out and about from 1 am to 7 am and be left pretty much alone. If his family wants to have a normal relationship with him, I would imagine that they would have to keep a similar schedule. If their children go to school, I would think that type of schedule would make it difficult. I also don't have a problem with the Travolta's acknowledging whether they have an autistic child or not. Why should someone, just because they are a celebrity, have to reveal sensitive or private information. The fact that he is an actor, doesn't require him to also be a spokesman for any particular cause, even if he is personally affected by it.

Well said Dawn.

 

[JunieJay]

I think a lot of what he does is to maintain privacy. One can be out and about from 1 am to 7 am and be left pretty much alone. If his family wants to have a normal relationship with him, I would imagine that they would have to keep a similar schedule. If their children go to school, I would think that type of schedule would make it difficult. I also don't have a problem with the Travolta's acknowledging whether they have an autistic child or not. Why should someone, just because they are a celebrity, have to reveal sensitive or private information. The fact that he is an actor, doesn't require him to also be a spokesman for any particular cause, even if he is personally affected by it.

I disagree. While I don't think he has an obligation to be a spokesman for autism awareness, I think its socially irresponsible of him to refuse to acknowledge his son's autism. By doing so he just makes autism even more mysterious and stigmitized than it already is. I would feel the same way about any parent who turned his/her back on their autistic child by refusing any intervention or to even acknowledge the condition exists, celebrity or not.

 

[declansdad]

I disagree. While I don't think he has an obligation to be a spokesman for autism awareness, I think its socially irresponsible of him to refuse to acknowledge his son's autism. By doing so he just makes autism even more mysterious and stigmitized than it already is. I would feel the same way about any parent who turned his/her back on their autistic child by refusing any intervention or to even acknowledge the condition exists, celebrity or not.

Refusing to acknowledge it publicly and acknowledging it in private are two different things. Unless someone lives with them, it is difficlt to say what exactly they do for their son.

 

[DawnCt1]

I disagree. While I don't think he has an obligation to be a spokesman for autism awareness, I think its socially irresponsible of him to refuse to acknowledge his son's autism. By doing so he just makes autism even more mysterious and stigmitized than it already is. I would feel the same way about any parent who turned his/her back on their autistic child by refusing any intervention or to even acknowledge the condition exists, celebrity or not.

But doesn't he have a right to maintain his son's medical privacy? If his son was schizophrenic, would he be obligated to reveal that in the interest of advancing the cause of severe mental illness? I feel that people are entitled to privacy, no matter who they are.